Passwords on ODF files

[Larry Hartman]

On Thursday 09 August 2007 11:16:41 pm Matthew Flaschen wrote:
> Larry Hartman wrote:
> > Can anyone tell me the security benefits of using a 10 character password
> > over a 5 character password for Open Office files?  I am looking for
> > information on how the length of a password affects the encryption of the
> > file.
>
> Basically, longer (and/or more complex) passwords are harder to brute
> force.  It takes:
>
> 36^5/2 = 30,233,088 guesses on average to find a 5 character password
> consisting of random letters and numbers (typical passwords are less
> random so using a dictionary can decrease this).
>
> It takes:
>
> 36^10/2 = 1,828,079,220,031,488 guesses on average to find a 10
> character password.  In other words about 60 million times longer.
>
> Matt Flaschen

Is there any software out there capable of cracking passwords?  I know what I 
see in the movies, but movies being what they are, looking for an answer a 
bit more trustworthy.

I don't plan on using this stuff, just trying to learn up on a security issue.  

I notice in your math that 36 is the base number, why so?  I was expecting 32 
as the base number.


Larry